Oz batting Achilles heel despite India’s whitewash: Report

Melbourne: Australia’s batting remains its Achilles’ heel despite its whitewash of India, an article in a daily has said.

The Sydney Morning Herald article written by Andrew Wu, however, admitted that the bowling attack has sharpened due to the recent resurgence of Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus.

It also said that Australia’s wicket-keeping was also encouraging but admitted that rookie Matthew Wade is yet to gain a serious international exposure.

The article pointed out that England had successfully exploited Australia’s weak batting to its advantage to win the 2011 Ashes series.

“The adage that bowlers win matches and batsmen save them could not ring more true when it comes to Australia`s recent Test record. If not for embarrassing collapses in Cape Town and Hobart, Michael Clarke would have been able to sign off on the first 12 months of his Test captaincy on the back of eight straight victories and four series successes,” the article added.

The article said though David Warner gave a spellbinding performance in the Perth Test, it was largely the form of Australia`s senior trio of Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey that led to Pakistan’s defeat.

It added that Australia’s chief selector John Inverarity`s record suggests that he takes into account the reputation rather than the form, while selecting the team.

It cited the case of Peter Forest, who has been included in the squad despite averaging 36 in the first-class matches and failing to qualify for Australia A side.